Combine lazy days of summer, little kids, an amusement park and anything can happen.
I recall back when you could still find a few cars with running boards along the sides, my town’s police department hosted “Kiddies Fun Day” at the local amusement park. Somehow, amid the crowds and rides, I lost track of my mother and, ever the obedient child, found one of the many policemen who were there that day and explained my plight.
He asked me to describe my mother. Without hesitation I declared she was “fat, grey and wearing a pink skirt and red blouse.” Now Mom was not fat and the only grey in her hair was a deliberate stunning streak of white; the pink and red outfit was one of her many stylish “ensembles.” After the police announced my name, a woman came forward to fetch me. She was my mom’s cousin Barb, but because I rarely saw her, when the policeman asked me if I knew her, I said “no.” – and he gave me to her!
As soon as I spied my mother coming towards us, I let go of Barb’s hand and ran to hug her. Unfortunately, the sharp end of the barrette in my hair scraped open her cheek while we embraced. Later, as we were leaving, a policeman standing near the exit started to laugh.
“I don’t think it’s funny!” my now totally aggravated mother exclaimed.
“It’s not that, lady.” He shook his head as he continued to chuckle and muttered “fat, grey, pink and red.”
Right then, my mother accidently turned the wheel just enough to lodge the running board on a rock. The narrow platform then sheared off while she drove forward. As she pulled into our driveway fifteen minutes later, congealed blood on her cheek and her hand grasping the running board as it knocked against the side of the car, my father ran forward, asking “What happened?”
With a bit of a growl, she said three words “Kiddies’…..Fun……Day.”
